SO TO ZEN - Shasta Abbey

5.The Basic Meaning of Sōtō ZenThe name S‡t‡ is derived from the first character in thenames of two of its masters, T‡zan Ry‡kai (C. Tung-shanLiang-chieh) and S‡zan Honjaku (C. TsÕao-shan Pen-chi). Inthe ÒSayings of T‡zanÓ (J. T‡zan Goroku), it is written, ÒAs theprofound style of T‡zan made itself felt in all parts of theEmpire, Zen masters, in order to show their respect for T‡zan,called the school the T‡s‡ School.Ó Thus the school was firstknown as T‡s‡, but perhaps for euphonic reasons, the charactersin the name were later reversed to read ÒS‡t‡.Ó In theÒThesis on the Ten Regulations of the SchoolÓ (C. Tsung-menShih-kuei-lun, J. Sh‰mon Jikki Ron) by Fa-yen (J. H‡gen), theS‡t‡ School is placed alongside the Rinzai and Igy‡ Schools.The above-mentioned work was written between 940 and 950C.E. Prior to that, H‡gen, the author, had roamed about thecountry and heard the school names Rinzai, Igy‡ and S‡t‡ fromBuddhist scholars. Thus it is clear that the name S‡t‡ wasalready in use by 910 or 920 C.E.S‡zan died in 901 C.E., Ungo D‡y‡ the following yearand Ry‰ge Kyoton (C. Lung-ya Chu-tun) in 923 C.E. It is also45